Xiaomi Announces the Redmi Note 4, with Deca-core Helio X20 SoC

Xiaomi had launched the Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek variant) in November last year. Packing a Helio X10 SoC, the device went on to become the base for the Snapdragon 650 SoC variant.

And just about nine months later from its launch, Xiaomi has released the Redmi Note 4. This new phone is the successor to the Mediatek variant of its predecessor. And for a successor being launched in not even a year, the Redmi Note 4 does not have a whole lot much in terms of change, when you compare it against the MediaTek Redmi Note 3.

The changes start off with a subtle shift in design. There’s plastic antenna bands running around on the top and bottom parts of the back. It is not immediately known if the plastic caps that were present on the Redmi Note 3 have been replaced in favor of an all metallic unibody build, but we hope so. The speaker grille that was on the back of the Redmi Note 3 is now on the bottom of the mid frame on the Redmi Note 4. Other than these changes, the design is largely similar to the previous phone, with its metallic build. The front of the device continues to be dominated by the 5.5″ FHD LCD display.

On the inside, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 comes with a MediaTek Helio X20 MT6797 SoC, an upgrade from the Helio X10. This is one of the most important changes, as the Helio X10 was simply not suited for “flagship” tasks as much as MediaTek claimed it to be. The Helio X10 was an Octa-Core SoC with only Cortex-A53 cores clocked at different speeds — a configuration that lagged behind by a good margin against its competitors. But with the Helio X20, things are at a comparatively better position performance wise, with the addition of a dual-core Cortex-A72 cluster. The end result is a deca-core CPU divided into three clusters, even though they likely could have done away with the middle core that is nothing but higher clocked Cortex-A53’s. The Helio X20 also comes with a GPU upgrade, opting for a Mali-T880 MP4 GPU (comparable to the Adreno 420 inside a Snapdragon 805) instead of a PowerVR.

Outside of these changes, things are again back to familiar territory. The device will come in a two variants again, a 16GB model and a 64GB model. Strangely, RAM was not mentioned in the forum announcement post, but our guess would be again on 2GB for the base model and 3GB for the higher model. You get microSD expandability via the hybrid SIM slot, which was reportedly missing from the MediaTek variant but was present on the Snapdragon variant. The battery is slightly bumped up to 4,100 mAh, and the software version is now MIUI 8 with Android 6.0 out of the box. The camera setup remains largely similar as well, with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The phone continues to use a microUSB port, and the IR Blaster still exists.

The Redmi Note 4 comes at a price of CNY 899 ($135) for the 16GB variant and CNY 1199 ($180) for the 64GB variant. The phone will be available for purchase on mi.com in China.

The Redmi Note 4 does not offer a whole lot over its predecessor, aside from the SoC. But there’s a good chance that we will see a Snapdragon variant of the device landing in other markets a few months from now, so our fingers are crossed.

What are your thoughts on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4? Let us know in the comments below!

About Author

Commerce graduate and Law student with a passion for all things Android, Aamir frequently helps people get the best out of their budget smartphones through generous use of custom roms and kernels. Once an ardent Samsung fanboy, he has since wised up to the ways of Nexus and DuARTe. He receives press releases at aamirsiddiqui@xda-developers.com.

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